


Fiancee for Holidays

by beggsyboo



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Happy Ending, Holidays, Laurel is stupid, Movie inspired, Romance, Thanksgiving, a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-14 06:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16907646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beggsyboo/pseuds/beggsyboo
Summary: He was dumped right before he was supposed to visit his family for the holidays.  So what does he do? He finds a local tech shop owner with a big heart to be his fake girlfriend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays everyone! This was going to be something else but then another idea popped up and I couldn't stand seeing this go away after I had worked on it. It is based off of this adorable movie with an Olicity spin on it and I hope you all enjoy it.

Oliver Queen was listening to the radio from his kitchen.  For the last two weeks he had been listening to this station that was offering two tickets to Aruba and he knew that would make the perfect honeymoon for him and Laurel.  When he heard them ask for the next caller, he grabbed his phone and dialed as quickly as his fingers would let him and had to stop himself from shouting when someone answered and he was put on the list to possibly win it.  He immediately called his fiancée.

Laurel answered; obviously rushing based on her tone, “What babe? I have to go to a meeting.”

“You won’t believe this.  I finally got through on the radio station.”

“What are you talking about?” she said as she tossed her briefcase in her very expensive silver Porsche.

“You know that radio station that was offering the two tickets to Aruba?  I’ve told you about it every week,” he replied knowing his words were being totally ignored, “Anyways, don’t forget that we need to leave here by two to get to my parents on Wednesday.”

“That was this week?”

“Yeah, that is Thanksgiving weekend.  You cannot bail on me again.  My mom is constantly on me about when she is going to meet you and…”

“I got it, I got it.  Next Wednesday pick you up at two. But I got to go.”

“Kay, I love,” but he heard the phone disconnect, “you.”

Oliver looked at his phone and rolled his eyes.  Laurel was always so busy but Oliver understood because she was a corporate lawyer and was currently working very hard to make her way through the firm.  He met lawyer at an event he was covering for the newspaper he worked at.  For some reason, Oliver hit it off with the graceful tall woman that had everything going for her.  She was smart, responsible and stunning and exactly what his family thought he should marry instead of wasting his time writing for a newspaper. 

His mother nagged him about giving her grandbabies weekly and it had been getting worse since his sister got engaged to Adrian Chase, some doctor with his own practice.  He heard his phone ringing from the coffee table, knowing it was his mother based on the ringtone.

“Hi mom,” he answered.

“Hello sweetheart, I just wanted to call and remind you to be here early on Wednesday because I am hosting a little get together in your honor since we never got to celebrate your engagement,” his mother said with just a hint of snark.

“I know mom.  We are going to leave here at two so we can be there on time.”

“Good.  Oh do you think Laurel will like my sweet potato casserole?  I can’t imagine anyone not liking it.”

“I don’t know mom. I’ll have to ask her.”

“Great.  See you then.”

“Bye mom.”

* * *

It was Friday before Thanksgiving and Oliver was walking to a local tech shop with his best friend and coworker Tommy Merlyn.

“Man, why did you choose this assignment?  It is so boring.”

“No, it isn’t,” Oliver replied to his friend’s whining, “It shows the shop owner’s tenacity that they are holding on when larger chains come in to take over.”

“Whatever, let’s just hurry up.”

Oliver and Tommy walked into a local computer repair shop owned by a young woman.

“Hi, welcome to Smoak Tech Solutions, how can I help you?” a young girl about eighteen and short dark hair said.

“We are here to interview Felicity Smoak.  Is she around?” Oliver asked.

“Yeah, just a sec she is working on someone’s tablet,” she replied, “Yo, Felicity, two guys want to talk to you.”

“Just a minute,” a feminine voice from the back answered followed by a bark and a shushing noise.

Felicity Smoak walked out from the back room to talk to Oliver and Tommy.  Oliver’s breath caught in his throat.  While he had a beautiful successful fiancée, he couldn’t ignore that fact that the woman in front of him was beautiful with her golden ponytail, glasses resting on her nose, and a deep purple dress that had a cutout over the chest showing just enough skin.

“Hello, I am Felicity Smoak,” she held out her hand to shake theirs, “how can I help you?”

Oliver finally found his voice, “I am Oliver Queen and this is Tommy Merlyn with the Glades Gazette.  We are doing a piece about local businesses.”

“I read the paper.  Don’t get me wrong, I love reading from my tablet but there is just something about holding a piece of print.”

As she was talking, a small furry dog ran out front.

“Skittles, I thought I told you to stay back there.  Sin, could you take him?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“Wait, did you just say Skittles?” Oliver asked.

“Yeah.”

“Did you happen to adopt him from the Starling City Animal Rescue?”

Felicity smiled, “I did actually.  I saw your picture with him in that article you wrote.  I thought it was the most adorable thing.”

Tommy watched his friend’s eyes light up talking to Felicity.  They never did that with Laurel.

Oliver grinned, “I’m glad someone gave him a good home.”

“He’s good company.”

Suddenly, a ringtone filled the room and Tommy answered his phone.

“Oh man,” he said into the phone, confusing his friend and the shop owner, “We have to head back.”

“Wait,” Oliver interrupted, “We barely got started.”

“Well, the paper is shutting down.”

Felicity and Oliver’s eyes widened.

“Really?” “Really?” they answered at the same time.

“I guess we better go then.  It was nice to meet you,” Oliver said with sadness.

“You too,” she responded as she watched Oliver and his friend leave and listened to the jingle from her door shutting.

“Bummer.  They were cute,” Sin stated behind her to which Felicity rolled her eyes but nodded at the same time.

* * *

“I never understood why you wrote at that little paper anyways.  So many things are online now and you could be doing so much more with your degree,” Laurel said over dinner that night.

“I know but I am still a little depressed and now I have to find a new job.”

Laurel put down her fork, “Well, you may want to hold out on that.”

His forehead crinkled with confusion, “What do you mean?”

She smiled, “I just heard about a VP position that opened up in Gotham.  I am a shoo-in for the position.  I have been there the longest and I put in the most hours. Wilson would be a fool not to promote me.”

“But Gotham is clear across the country.”

“I know but we could do so much there.”

“My family and my friends are all here.  What am I going to do in Gotham?”

“Be my handsome supportive husband,” Laurel replied and rubbed his hand across the table showing her engagement ring.

“Couldn’t you wait for a promotion around here?”

Laurel shrugged and he continued to talk, “I mean you are a brilliant lawyer.  There is sure to be another position in the firm, right?”

She nodded, “Sure.  Let’s just finish eating.”

They finished their dinner and left the restaurant.  Oliver noticed that Laurel was particularly quiet on the ride home and instead of staying the night at his apartment, she said she had papers to go through and said good night without saying I love you.

* * *

“What do you mean this won’t work?” Oliver yelled outside the restaurant on Saturday.

Laurel had asked him to meet her for lunch and before the waiter brought their order, she told him that their relationship was over.  Afraid of making a scene, Laurel pushed him outside.

“I need someone who will support me, Oliver.  Someone who is willing to move with my career.”

“Is this about Gotham?” he asked with watery eyes, “I’ll move to Gotham.”

Laurel just shook her head and took the ring from her left hand, “I think you and I are on different paths,” she answered and held out the ring, “I’m really sorry.”

Oliver took the ring and watched her drive away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured this story could be a bit long and decided to break it up into chapters.

 

Oliver sat in front of his television, drinking his sixth beer as his friend continuously tells him how he is better off.

“How am I better off Tommy?  Laurel was perfect.  She was beautiful, smart, charming, and successful.  My parents would have loved her and now I have to tell them that I am a thirty six year old unemployed writer who can’t keep a woman around.  What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Tommy was about to answer when he heard an announcement made on the radio.

“And the winner of the two tickets to Aruba is…Oliver Queen of Star City.  Congratulations and happy holidays.”

Oliver banged his head on table.

“Seriously, how much worse can it get?”

As if asking for more depressing news, his mother called but he decided not to answer with the mood he was in.  She left a message which he played just in case it was an emergency.

“Oliver? It’s your mother.  I just wanted to ask if you and Laurel had set a date yet so I could contact Father Steele.  He was there for all your baptisms and weddings take so long to prepare for…well, anyways, let me know.  See you on Wednesday.”

Tommy’s eyes drooped for his friend, “I’m really sorry man.”

“I know.  I should’ve just supported her,” Oliver replied looking at the ring he placed next to his computer.

Suddenly, Tommy had an idea, “Okay, you may think this is nuts but what if you paid someone to be your fiancée for the holiday weekend and then, you can say you ended it later.”

“You’re right. I do think you’re nuts,” he laughed and took another swig from his bottle.

“Listen, you just won these tickets to Aruba that you aren’t going to be using for your honeymoon.  You can give these to the person you hire along with housing them for the weekend and homemade meals.”

“And how do you suggest I hire someone?”

“Online.  Do a video online and see what happens.  And if you get no response, maybe you can go to that tech repair place and ask that cute owner you like,” Tommy smirked.

“I did not like her.  I liked that she adopted that dog though.”

“And she had great legs,” Tommy added which Oliver glared at him for.

Oliver looked at a picture he had of Laurel on his phone, “I have to be insane to do this.”

Tommy smiled, “Let’s get started.”

Oliver and Tommy spent the rest of the evening, recording and planning his video and before he knew it, it was the next day.  Something was beeping and he wanted it to stop.

“What is beeping?” Tommy mumbled into the couch pillows.

“I think it is the computer,” Oliver answered after getting two cups of coffee and sitting them on the table next to his laptop. 

When he opened it, he saw that his video had over twenty responses.

“Holy hell man,” Tommy exclaimed when he saw the number of replies, “What did I tell you?” he bounced excitedly knocking his coffee onto the computer.

Oliver’s computer fritzed and shut off.

“Oops.”

“What the heck man?  Now how am I supposed to pick someone when I can’t even see anything?”

“I don’t know,” Tommy shrugged and Oliver growled at his ever growing bad luck, “Maybe you should go to that store after all?”

“This idea is stupid and I should just admit that Laurel dumped me and move on.”

“At least go get your computer fixed,” his friend replied.

* * *

“Oh, that poor baby!  What happened?” Felicity said when Oliver showed her the computer on Monday.

“My friend spilled coffee on it.”

“Computers and liquids do not mix well.  Let me see what I can do.  You can go and I can call you or you can come back here with me.”

“If it’s okay, I rather go back there.  Not a whole lot to do now.”

Oliver followed Felicity to the back room, “Don’t you have family to spend time with?” Felicity asked.

Oliver grunted and replied, “I am supposed to leave here to see my parents on Wednesday but I am not looking forward to it considering what happened Friday.”

“You mean the newspaper shutting down?” she asked while taking a small screw driver to the bottom of the computer.

“That and my fiancée dumping me,” he barely replied.

“Wait…who would dump you?”

“Apparently, her,” he answered.

“That makes no sense…I mean look at you, you’re gorgeous…I mean not that looks are all there is…and I am not coming on to you…that would be really unprofessional…and 3,2,1.  I am sorry to hear that.”

Oliver smiled at the flushed store owner, “Thanks.  Well, my friend Tommy, who was here with me the other day he suggested I put an ad online to hire someone to be my fake girlfriend so my family wouldn’t be completely upset and I could just say I ended things after so I don’t look like a total loser.”

“Your family never met her and you were engaged?” Felicity said as she took apart the computer piece by piece.

“She is a lawyer and always busy but it doesn’t matter because I can’t see any responses to the ad if I don’t have a computer.”

“Well, the liquid didn’t get into the hard drive but the keyboard is fried.  I have some pieces I can basically give you a brand new computer but it will still have all your information on it.”

“That’d be great,” he smiled.

She left her seat to go find the pieces she needed and came back.

“This shouldn’t take much longer.  I’m curious though and you don’t have to tell me, but why did she break up with you?”

“She told me about this possible promotion she could get but the job was in Gotham.”

“That’s really far away,” she looked at him.

“That’s what I said and the next day after telling her I didn’t really want to move to a place where I didn’t know anyone or could do anything let alone the fact she didn’t have the promotion yet, she told me that we were on different paths and she needed someone who would move with her career.”

“Well, that just…that just sucks!” Felicity responded aggressively.

“Exactly.  I told her I would move to Gotham but it was too late and now I will be going to my family alone to tell them I am no longer engaged and that I won two tickets to Aruba for nothing.”

“Wait…you won tickets to Aruba?  I always wanted to go to Aruba.”

Oliver searched his pocket for the envelope, “Here you go” he placed it on the table.

“Oh…Oliver, I couldn’t take those.  Besides maybe she will come to her senses and realize how great you are.”

“Maybe but I don’t really want to think about it right now.  I have to see if I can sell the ring.”

Felicity finished putting the computer together and was about to hand it to him when she said something that surprising, “I know we don’t really know each other but what if I go and be your pretend girlfriend?”

“You would do that?” he questioned her, surprise showing on his face.

“I, mean, you need help, the shop will be closed plus my family lives in Vegas and my mom will be working an extra shift for sure…and you did just give me two tickets to Aruba so I kinda owe you. I'll even show you my background check so you know that I am only a tad bit crazy and not a homicidal maniac.”

Oliver chuckled at the last statement, “I don’t want you to feel any pressure.  My family is a bit intense.  My mom will nag about setting the date and planning a wedding plus there is a bunch of stuff for you to learn about them by Wednesday.”

“Oliver, I am Jewish so my mother regularly harasses me about the cobwebs growing in my womb and how I’ll never get a man. And about the learning stuff, I am a certified genius so I think I can handle it.”

Oliver couldn’t stop the smile from forming, “I don’t know what to say.  Felicity, you are remarkable.”

“Thank you for remarking on it.  Here’s your computer,” she handed it to him, “Meet me here around one thirty on Wednesday?  Does that work?”

He nodded, “I’ll see you Wednesday.  I’ll friend you on Facebook and you can see pictures.  I never posted anything about Laurel because she didn’t want her coworkers to see anything so we won’t have to worry about any confusion.”

“Okay.  I’ll look for you…See you Wednesday.”

“See you Wednesday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

 

“I really can’t believe I am doing this,” Oliver said to himself as he saw Felicity waiting outside her shop for him to pick her up. 

Oliver felt butterflies flutter through his stomach as he saw Felicity in front of her store.  Her blond hair was long, wavy and laid against her shoulders.  The dress she was wearing was pink with a black belt at her waist and it stopped right above her knee.  Any fool could see she was beautiful.

She waved at him when he stopped and he got out of the car to put her suitcase in the trunk.

“Is this dress okay?” she asked nervously.

He stopped and looked at her.  Tommy wasn’t lying when he said she had great legs.

“It’s perfect,” her answered and it earned him a soft smile and flushed cheeks.

She got into the car and waited for him to start the engine. When he sat in the driver’s seat, he couldn’t stop the nerves and he asked one more time.

“Are you sure you want to do this?  You can keep the tickets and I’ll understand.”

“Oliver,” he shivers as she placed her hand on his arm, “It may make no sense and I don’t know why myself but something tells me I should do this with…or for you.   Let’s go.”

He couldn’t help but stare at the woman in front of him.  She barely knew him beyond the fact that he was a writer, his fiancée dumped him and what his computer looked like but she was willing to go spend time with his family when Laurel could barely remember their names.

“Okay,” he smiled and started the car, “Let’s go then.”

* * *

 

“So, I did a little research and found that Laurel is a lawyer at Waller and Associates who work everything from civil to corporate.”

“Yes and she is one of the most successful hence why she believes she will get the Gotham promotion.”

“And she was part of a golf tournament where you met because you were covering it and where she won her Porsche.”

Oliver glanced in her direction wondering how she found out about this.

“Your sister has been engaged to Adrian Chase, a doctor at Star City Memorial, for a year and a half.”

“Yeah…how did you know that?”

“I found their engagement announcement and I just did a little search for a Laurel Dinah Lance to find more about her.”

“Really? Did you find anything else out about her?”

“Umm…I don’t think I should answer that.”

He smiled, “Why not?”

“I found it through less than legal means.”

“You hacked, didn’t you?”

She looked nervous, “Kinda.  Social media only shows so much and I figured as your fiancée, I needed to know more about her and your family like your mother runs her own event planning business and your father recently retired from his position at Queen Consolidated that is now run by Raymond Palmer, his former vice president.  If it is out there, I can find it.”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she asked him.

“Laurel and I have been engaged for six months and she barely remembered anything about my family.”

Felicity couldn’t stop the question that spilled from her mouth, “Why were you with her? I, mean, I guess it is none of my business…I just need to know some basics…but it just…never mind.”

Oliver thought about the question, “Honestly, she is beautiful, intelligent and seems to have everything figured out.  Coming from a successful family, I always felt like I let them down because I didn’t go into business or I partied too much when I was younger and that I would never have a steady girlfriend.  Even when I got a degree and started writing, nothing made them happy and when my sister got engaged, it got worse. So when I met Laurel and we got engaged, my parents were supportive and happy I found someone they wanted me to be with.”

Felicity stared at Oliver like she figured him out, “My mother is a cocktail waitress from Vegas.  My dad left when I was seven and I saw how hard she worked so I studied and studied so that I could get the away from all that.  I got a scholarship to MIT at sixteen, graduated with two masters degrees and yet the only thing my mom worries about is if I have a boyfriend. I mean I love my mom and that she worked three jobs so that we had a home and food but I wish she was proud of me.  But maybe because I am more like my dad who left us…I don’t know.”

“This is a real bummer of a conversation,” Oliver said trying to lighten the mood.

She chuckled, “Just a little. How about we play twenty questions since we still have a ways to go which will help us fool your family?”

“Good idea…you start.”

“Okay…Are you allergic to anything?”

“No, You?”

“Nuts and believe me when I say you do not want to see an allergic reaction.”

“Noted.  What is your favorite color?”

“Pink.”

“Blue.”

“Why did you go into writing?”

“I watched my parents read the newspaper every morning.  It seemed like such an important part of the day and when I had to pick a club in high school, I chose the newspaper and found I loved hunting down information and letting everyone know.  So, I decided I would take journalism in college,” he answered, “Why did you go into tech?”

“Well, I guess knowing this won’t really matter since I need to be a lawyer this weekend but before my dad left, he showed me things about computers like how to build them and take them apart.  I loved listening to him talk about how technology changed the world.  I was going to show him the computer I built right before he left us.  Computers were the one thing I had from him and while I eventually became really angry at him for leaving, I loved him more.  Plus, I was super good at figuring out codes and things.”

“I’m sorry your dad left and if it helps, I think he is a fool.”

She smiled, “Thanks.”

Before long, they arrived at his parents’ house and Felicity gaped at the building in front of them, “Wow, I found the picture of the house online but that is nothing compared to seeing it in person.”

“Yeah.  It is a bit intimidating.”

She nodded and walked around the car to get her bags when his mother bounded out the door to hug her son.

“Finally!” she shouted, “I didn’t think you would ever get here.”

“Mom, it’s only four thirty.”

“Yeah, well, aren’t you going to introduce me to your fiancée? Where are your manners?”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “Mom, this is Laurel.  Laurel, this is my mother Moira.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Queen,” Felicity held out her hand.

“Oh, please call me Moira,” his mother replied hugging Felicity instead, shocking her.

 “Mom, let her breathe.”

 “Sorry.  I am just so happy to _finally_ meet you.  For a while there, I thought he made you up.”

“Thanks mom,” he replied sarcastically.

“But Oliver, I thought you would bring the Porsche.”

“It was getting detailed,” Felicity quickly replied as if she was expecting the question.

Oliver’s father walked out to help them with the bags, “Laurel, nice to _finall_ y meet you.  I am Robert.”

“Nice to meet you, also.”

“Well, let’s not stay outside, come on come on.”

They walked inside and Oliver’s sister Thea ran to him.

“Ollie,” she said excitedly before hugging her brother.

“Speedy,” he answered.

“Worse nickname ever,” she replied before holding her hand out to Felicity, “Thea Queen. You must be Laurel.”

“Yeah.  Great to meet the famous sister he told me so much about,” she told her.

“Whatever he said, don’t believe him.”

Oliver looked at the picture in front of him.  Something about seeing his sister and Felicity talking caused his chest to tighten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to know what you think. Feel free to comment.


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

Oliver watched and listened to his sister and Felicity talk.

“So, Laurel, how did you and my brother meet?”

“My law firm was part of a charity golf game where they were giving away a free Porsche which if you ask me made it seem less like a charity but regardless, I ended up winning because I played golf with my dad, won the car, and met Oliver when he interviewed me for the Glades Gazette.”

“Wait, you own a Porsche and you drove in his clunker?”

Felicity chuckled, “It was getting detailed.”

“Why haven’t we met you before?  I mean we talk to Ollie a lot but there are no pictures of you or anything.”

“Trust me, we have a lot more at our apartments but I worry about social media affecting my career so I don’t have a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account and I asked any friends who did to not upload any pictures with me or my name because of it.  My career is very important and with a few high profile cases, I am on call all the time.”

Oliver jumped in, “Laurel is on the partner track.  Aren’t you babe?”

“That’s the goal,” she looked up at him.

Oliver couldn’t stop his hand from reaching for hers when he sat on the edge of the chair she was sitting in. The two of them seemed to get lost in each other’s’ eyes before they heard a voice.

“Well, at least we are meeting you now,” Moira interrupted their staring contest, “Thea, don’t monopolize them and Oliver, introduce her to our guests.”

Oliver rolled his eyes and grabbed Felicity’s hand, “Come on.”

“Here goes nothing,” Felicity mumbled under her breath.

Oliver first introduced her to Thea’s fiancé Adrian Chase.

“Adrian,” Oliver said to get his attention, “This is my fiancée Laurel.”

Adrian held out his hand, “Nice to meet you Laurel. I am Thea’s fiancée.”

“Ah,” now she understood why Oliver looked like he hated Adrian but she couldn’t understand why Thea looked annoyed to be by her boyfriend, “I hear you are a doctor.”

“I am and what do you do?”

Felicity responded, “I am a lawyer at Waller and Associates.”

“Aren’t they the firm that is representing Cecil Adams who created that Vertigo drug?”

Felicity looked like she was about to be sick.  She hadn’t looked into the cases Laurel was working on and knowing some of the information about Adams and what his drug caused, she found the idea of knowing or being Laurel a bit repulsive.

Oliver interjected with, “While that may be true, Laurel is not personally representing him and works with a combination of clients.”

“How does it feel to know your firm is supporting a man that put fifty plus people in the hospital?” Adrian asked.

Thea spoke up, “Adrian, come on.”

Robert Queen walked into the conversation at that moment, “Now, now, Adrian, it is said that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.  Right, Laurel?”

“That is what they say,” she replied.

Oliver spent a little while introducing her to friends and family until his mom asked where he ring was. It was at that moment, his friend Tommy had arrived.

"Ollie," he shouted over the noise and patted his friend on the back while whispering in the ear, "I thought you weren't interested in the tech girl," with a smile.

"Hey, Tommy, you remember Laurel?" Oliver replied hoping his eyes showed him to play along.

"Of course, who could forget Laurel," he answered and hugged Felicity and spoke softly in her ear, "My car is out front if you want to run away now."

Felicity snorted when she laughed at what he said and Tommy received a glare from Oliver.

"Oh calm down, Ollie, I'm not going to steal your girl," a phrase which caused both Oliver and Felicity to blush.

Moira interrupted the conversation again, "Oliver, you didn't tell me where the ring is."

“Oh…uh…hmmm,” he responded not knowing how to answer.

“I had lost weight recently and I accidentally dropped in the kitchen sink.  Luckily, we were able to get it but I decided it needed to go to jewelers to get resized.”

He looked at her and mouthed “thank you” and she nodded.  The rest of the afternoon went smoothly except the couple times she had to dodge Oliver’s dad’s questions regarding some bad deal.

* * *

Oliver stood in front of the bed.  He didn’t want Felicity to be uncomfortable and he knew it would look weird if he asked for separate rooms so he was just going to put blankets on the floor and grab extra pillows as the couch was just to small for his six foot two frame.  Felicity walked out from the bathroom in pajama pants with blue phone booths and a tank top.  There was something so seductive about the skin of her arms that he wanted to touch her.

“You know I could take the floor, right?” she said.

“No, that wouldn’t be right.  You are doing this as a favor to someone you don’t even know.”

“Which I probably should question my sanity for,” she laughed and he nodded.

“Regardless, I will sleep on the floor.”

“I feel really bad that I am taking the bed,” she told him as she lifted the covers and tossed the pillows till they were where she wanted.

“Don’t even think about it.  I just hope my mom or Speedy won’t come barging in.”

Felicity smiled at the nickname Speedy.  After watching his sister talk from person to person and run around after some of their younger cousins, she understood the nickname.

“Yeah, I think the nickname fits.”

“When she was younger, she used to chase me and my best friend Tommy around the house and the yard every time we tried to get away from us and if she was trying to get away from you, there was no catching her in a chase.  We had to bribe her with cookies or candy to leave us alone or not tell our parents when we did something.”

“Your parents seem very nice.”

Oliver sighed, “They can be.  They can also be very frustrating.”

Felicity nodded, “I think our families just want us to be happy and know that we will share our lives with someone great.”

Oliver turned to look at her in the bed from his pillows on the floor, “Speaking of which, why don’t you have a boyfriend?”

Felicity grew silent and Oliver worried he asked the wrong question.

“My last boyfriend killed himself,” she said with a depressed tone.

“Oh my god, Felicity. I am so sorry. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“No, no, no. I can talk about it…it’s just…it was my fault.”

“I can’t imagine anyone killing themselves would be your fault,” he replied.

“When I was in college, I got together with this group of hackers and I was the best one.  I even created this crazy virus that could get in anywhere.  Well, I didn’t realize that Cooper, that was his name, Cooper Seldon, decided he wanted to use the virus to break into the federal government and erase student loans.  It took a bit but he was tracked to his dorm because he wasn’t quite as good of a coder.  He hung himself in prison,” she sniffled.

Oliver got up and walked over to sit on the bed. She looked at him with wet eyes.

“It was my fault because if I hadn’t created it…he would still be alive.”

Oliver took both his hands and held her shoulders so she had to face him.

“Felicity, look at me.  You are not at fault for his decisions.”

“I thought about never coding or working on computers again after that but I love technology and learning too much and while I could have gotten a job at any major corporation considering I had double major degrees, I want to start my own shop.”

“I like your shop.  Although talking about shop, Skittles wasn’t in there the other day.”

She smiled when Oliver asked about her dog, “I had Sin take him for the weekend.”

Oliver couldn’t suppress the yawn that escaped his mouth.

“Why don’t we just share the bed?” Felicity offered, “It’s a huge bed and we can even build a pillow fort if it helps.”

“You wouldn’t mind?” Oliver yawned again as something about this bed or maybe it was Felicity was very relaxing.

“Yes.  I’ll build the fort and then we can go to sleep.”

The fort was demolished by morning as both Oliver and Felicity tangled themselves during the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it!

 

Oliver only woke up because he heard knocking on the door.

“Ollie?” he heard his sister shout.

He had the best sleep of his life and his baby sister was knocking on the door at what felt like some ungodly hour.

“Tell her to go away,” Felicity mumbled into his chest.

Somehow in the middle of the night, the pillow fort had been eradicated and Felicity had claimed his chest as her pillow. He couldn't find it in himself to complain as he felt his hand rub up and down her back. It felt natural to wake up to her flaxen tresses forming a halo on his body.

“What do you want Thea?” he replied.

“It's ten thirty and mom wants help in the kitchen.”

Felicity snorted, “Only if she wants me to burn down the house,” she mumbled slowly removing herself from her position.

“Give us a minute,” Oliver told his sister.

He could hear Thea talking to herself about lazy siblings and how she has been up helping their mother.

Felicity looked at him bashfully, “Sorry, I sleep groped you.”

“It's okay.”

“I'll sleep on the couch tonight.”

Oliver felt a bit disappointed but tried not to show it, “If you want.”

“It will be awkward enough if you get back together with Laurel; I don't think you want to add sleeping with another woman...not that we were...I wouldn't do that...not saying you aren't attractive. You know what I just woke up and I will not be held responsible for my sleep addled brain.”

Oliver found himself smiling more and more as Felicity dug herself deeper and deeper into her babble, “Felicity,” he touched her arm, “I get it. I'm going to go downstairs, grab us some breakfast muffins and see what mom wants and if you want, you can take a shower through there,” he finished pointing towards his connected bathroom.

“You have a bathroom in your bedroom? Ugh, rich people,” is the last thing Oliver heard when he shut the door.”

He walked into the kitchen spying the chocolate chip muffins Raisa always made for breakfast when his mother spotted him.

“Oliver, why aren't you dressed? Raisa and I have been working all morning,” she huffed.

“I was sleeping mom. You know that thing people like to do,” he replied before kissing her on the cheek.

“Well, try my sweet potato casserole,” she held out a spoon.

His mother rarely cooked but was so proud when ever she made something but before he took a bite he noticed something she doesn't usually put in it.

“Mom, are those pecans?”

“Yeah, I thought it would be a good change. Do you think Laurel would like it?”

“She is allergic to nuts mom,” he answered.

His mother looked unhappy, “How allergic?”

It was at that moment that Felicity walked in and responded, “Super allergic. This one time someone tried to give me a,” and it was as the next word was about to flow from her mouth that Oliver interrupted, knowing she was about to finish her pot brownie story she told him on the way there.

“Anyways. If there is anything else with nuts, make sure she knows so we can avoid a hospital visit on Thanksgiving.”

“Okay then,” Moira shrugged, “Laurel, Thea is in the living room with Adrian and Oliver go get dressed and then help your father. I don't know why but he thinks he is going to _fry_ the turkey this year.”

Oliver left for his room, rolling his eyes at the idea of fried turkey and Felicity went to find Thea. She felt lost until she heard talking and found Thea and Adrian near each other. Both were staring at their phones occasionally speaking but they appeared quite distant for an engaged couple.

“Good morning, Thea. Adrian,” Felicity said, announcing her presence.

Thea looked up and smiled, “Morning.”

Felicity sat down in a chair near the fireplace, “Adrian, I don't remember you telling me what sort of medicine you practice.”

“I'm a cardiologist,” he answered her question without even glancing up.

“Do you do emergency surgeries or,” but she was blocked by the shrill beeping of Adrian's phone.

He quickly accepted the call that told him he had to leave for an emergency procedure. Adrian gave Thea a peck on the cheek and left without so much as a wave goodbye to Felicity.

“I suppose that answered my question, huh?”

Thea smiled, “So have you and Oliver picked a date yet?”

Felicity tried to answer without giving any specifics and “Not really,” was all she could think of.

Thea's eyebrow was raised and Felicity felt her heart race at the thought of more wedding or relationship based questions without Oliver's back up. No matter how prepared she may have been, there was something about Thea that made you think she could figure you out in minutes.

But before any more questions were asked, a loud metallic explosion was heard through the house followed by the stampede of people rushing to find the source. When they got outside, Felicity's eyes grew as she took in the scene before them. In the back of the house stood a frozen still Oliver next to an equally still Robert looking at the turkey that had blown up from the large frying pot and landed on the ground.

“Are you all right?” Moira asked and both men nodded.

“Good. Now what the heck are we supposed to eat?” she stood with her hands on her hips.

“Mexican?” Thea suggested.

* * *

 

“Excuse me, I asked for a sparkling water,” Moira stated to the busboy named Roy.

Felicity watched as Roy and Thea shared a look and she nudged Oliver to see if he noticed.

Oliver leaned in to whisper, “What?”

“Is there something going on between your sister and the busboy?” she questioned quietly.

He shrugged, “I wouldn't know.”

They continued the rest of the meal but when the check arrived for them to pay, the server replied that their credit card reader was acting weird which caused Felicity to react without thinking.

“Could I see it?”

Confusion showed on all their faces, “You want to see our credit card reader?” asked the server.

Once she realized the hole she dug, her brain quickly filled in the gaps, “I have a friend with a tech store and she told me about some things. I thought maybe I would be able to see the problem and ask her over a text.”

“Whatever,” the server replied before handing her the machine.

Felicity knew the issue as she used to have the same one and fixed it regularly before obtaining a better model for her store. Before fixing it, she made a few quick fake texts to follow her story.

“She said to take off this top and that there is a wire that needs tightening. I sent her a picture and she used to have the same problem with hers before she got a different one.”

“Cool. I am going to go to the restroom,” Thea stated and left the table.

Robert paid and the rest of the family walked out to go to the car. Oliver noticed Thea was taking a long time.

“Um...maybe someone should check on Thea?”

“I'll go,” Felicity responded.

When Felicity went to the restroom to find Thea, she couldn't find her so she went towards the kitchen to ask someone. She walked by an open door and as she turned her head, Felicity saw Thea kissing Roy, the busboy. Unsure of what to do or say, she walked away hoping that she wouldn't be much longer and that Thea would remember to fix her lipstick.

 


	6. Chapter 6

After reaching the room she shared with Oliver, Felicity pondered whether she should tell Oliver or not. Why would Thea be making out with Roy from the restaurant when she was engaged to Adrian? It didn't feel right keeping it from Oliver. She is his sister and Felicity felt compelled to be completely honest with him ever since she met him.

Oliver walked up the stairs to his bedroom. All evening he was thinking about how nice it was to see Felicity interacting with his family even if they thought she was Laurel. Felicity charmed his family like no one else before. He found himself wondering if Laurel would have done the same. It felt so natural to be with Felicity but over the last couple of months, it had been so forced with Laurel.

Felicity heard Oliver walk through the door while she brushed her teeth in the bathroom.

“Felicity?”

“I'll be out in a minute.”

Felicity walked out just in time to see Oliver lifting his shirt to change for bed. She felt her tongue grow heavy as she took in the sculpted stomach, followed the ridges up to his stomach and watched his strong arms lift the shirt over his head.

Oliver hadn't realized that Felicity stood there, staring at him so when he took the shirt completely off, he was a bit embarrassed to see her but that didn't last long when he saw the flush in her face and the darkened hue of her eyes.

“Sorry...I didn't realize...” Felicity stammered as she watched him come closer.

“It's okay,” he pointed, “I am just going to finish changing in the bathroom.”

She nodded and prepared the pillows and blanket for the couch. Felicity couldn't risk waking up in Oliver's arms again. She continually told herself that she was doing this as a favor and there was no way she could fall for a guy that brought another woman to pretend to be his fiancee that broke up with him. She couldn't fall in love with a guy she barely knew let alone one who was still in love with his ex.

* * *

 

When Oliver woke up and saw that Felicity was not in the room, he dressed in a hurry and flew down the stairs in a panic. He didn't know what to expect as she seemed a bit distant before bed even with her ogling and worried that she left. He found the thought of her leaving left a hollow feeling in his chest.

But his fears were squashed when he saw Felicity helping his mother with the tree. While they lived in a mansion, the one thing they always did was decorate the tree together right after Thanksgiving.

“So Laurel, what does your family do for Christmas?” his mother asked her.

“Well, we do the traditional Chinese takeout and watch movies in our pajamas,” she responded as she helped wrap the garland around the tree.

“That's an odd thing to do on Christmas,” Moira responded.

“Mom, Laurel is Jewish,” Oliver answered, announcing his presence.

He placed a kiss on Felicity's cheek before grabbing an ornament.

“Oh... well, I guess I will have to call Father Steele and cancel. Not that you have set a date to tell him anything anyways,” her hint is quite obvious.

“Mom,” Oliver whined.

Moira huffed, “ _What?_ Your sister is twenty four and your thirty four and neither of you have started planning. I want to help, is that so wrong?”

Thea rolled her eyes while drinking coffee, “Mom, longer engagements are more common now besides Adrian and I talked about it and with his new position and me running the club, we wanted to wait until we could focus on it.”

“Well, then you will be engaged forever because you will always have the club and Adrian will still be a doctor,” she replied while putting ornaments on the tree, “Oliver, what is your excuse for not planning?”

“Uh...”

“Exactly, you don't have a job at that silly newspaper to stop you.”

“That isn't my fault and it wasn't a silly newspaper,” he answered her.

His mother rolled her eyes.

“I actually adopted the dog that Oliver showed in his article about the animal shelter,” Felicity added which caused all of them to look at her.

She froze in place, holding more decorations and Oliver smiled at her before talking, “He is a really cute dog. We saved dozens of animals that day.”

“That's lovely, dear. And I am sure you're a great writer.”

“Wait...what do you mean you are sure I am a great writer....you've never read anything I've sent you, have you,” Oliver said it as a statement instead of a question.

“Moira,” Felicity spoke while resting her hand on Oliver's shoulder, “Oliver is quite talented but we have only been engaged for a couple months, and when paper shut down, I told him I wanted him to focus on his writing. It was more important to me that his talent be used rather than wasted with wedding plans.”

“How can you say wasted?” Moira asked her.

Felicity was starting to regret her last sentence already, “I will be taking some time off at the beginning of the year so that I can plan our wedding with him and hopefully by then, Oliver would have found work.”

“Oh. So we can start planning for a wedding next year then? Well, that's not too far. Let's see, I'll make a list so you know where to start,” and Thea, Oliver, and Felicity watched her move excitedly out of the room.

Thea couldn't stop the smile, “You are so in trouble, Laurel.”

“What do you mean, Thea?” Oliver asked his sister while putting the star on the tree.

“Laurel just gave her a time line which means by the time New Year's comes around, mom will have the entire wedding planned before you even think about it.”

“Uh oh,” Felicity winced, “You really think she would start making calls and things like that.”

“I...uh...oh crap,” he mumbled.

“Well, I am going to get some fresh air while you two try to figure out how to stop hurricane mother-in-law.”

They watched his sister walk away and Felicity asked him, “Do you really think she would do that?”

“Well, considering my mother mentioned the man who baptized me and my sister, it is an unfortunate possibility. But I understood, you tried to put a future date to the planning and not a wedding itself so she wouldn't keep asking. I just didn't think mom would be that excited.”

She shrugged and decided now might be a good time to bring up Thea, “Um, Oliver how much do you know about Thea and Adrian's relationship?”

“Well, I know his job and that they have been engaged for eight months and according to our mother, have not made any plans, why do you ask?”

“I don't know. I guess they just seemed off a bit for an engaged couple...not that I would really now but we haven't seen him much and while she wasn't lying, waiting eight months or longer before planning,” she shrugged.

“Does seem sort of long, doesn't it?” he continued, “I haven't spent much time with her lately.

“I know you really love your sister. Maybe you should talk to her and spend some time with her while we are here?”

Oliver stood up and decided to hug her, “I think you are right,” he answered against her silky hair, “by the way, thank you for telling my mom that I am a good writer.”

She smiled and looked up at him, “I got a dog because of your writing. You can't be too bad.”

Oliver had to look away before he got lost in Felicity's cerulean eyes, “I am going to find Thea. Are you sure you will be okay?”

Felicity nodded.

* * *

Oliver walked outside and found his sister sitting on the old swing.

“Hey,” Thea said.

“Hi.”

“So leaving your fiancee alone in the house with Moira Queen, are you sure that is wise?”

“Laurel is a lawyer. She can handle herself.

Thea looked at her brother, “Laurel...don't you mean Felicity?”

Oliver's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard the name, “That's...her middle name.”

“Don't bother trying to cover it up.  I walked by your door and heard you call her Felicity.” she rolled her eyes at her brother, “What I want to know is who is she and why is she here?”

Oliver sat down next to here and took a deep breath, “Laurel, the real Laurel, broke up with me because I wouldn't move to Gotham if she got a promotion in the firm.”

“Wait...what?”

“She mentioned it at dinner after I lost my job. She said that I should support her and that she was a shoo-in for the position as a partner but it was in Gotham. I said that my life was here and that she maybe she could wait for something closer.”

“Not totally unreasonable. I mean she hadn't actually been offered the job yet.”

“Yeah, well, the next night she broke up with me saying that she needed someone who would move with her and support her career. I tried telling her that she didn't need to end it that if it meant that much I would go with her...but she just handed me the ring.”

“And how did you find Felicity?”

He smiled, “I was doing an article on local businesses before the paper closed. I walked into her tech shop where I found out she adopted the dog from my article. She was...just,” he shook his head, “Anyways Tommy had the stupid idea to post a video add for someone to pretend to be my fake girlfriend for the weekend and they would get the Aruba tickets I won.”

“You won tickets to Aruba? How?”

“Through the radio. Anyways, I posted the video because I honestly didn't want to disappoint mom and dad again but I accidentally spilled coffee all over my laptop. I went back to her store, somehow mentioned the situation and while she said she would take the tickets, Felicity said she just felt compelled to help me because she knew what it felt like to be alone and nagged about relationship status.”

“Wow...just wow,” Thea responded, “I think your situation just blew mine out of the water.”

Confused, he asked her, “What situation?”

“I am in love with a busboy named Roy Harper. He was the one at the Mexican restaurant. In fact, I had been dating him for a while until mom found out and decided that I needed to be with Adrian, who is quiet possibly the most boring and arrogant man I have ever met. Before I knew it, I was engaged but I haven't set a date because I don't want to be married to him.”

“A busboy?  Well, mom is all about appearances.”

“Not you too?” Thea glared.

“No just the Thea I used to know was a tad bit superficial and would have planned the most lavish wedding to a doctor,” he smiled.

“Maybe when I was hanging out with super bitchy girls that only cared about clothes, boys, and what designer drug that could buy. I went to business school, opened the club which is where I met him when I hired him as part time bartender and we just hit it off. He's really great.”

“I guess he only works as busboy for extra money,” he asked and she nodded.

“He helps his mom with some bills so he works two jobs. I just wish mom and dad saw how great he was.”

Oliver placed his arm over Thea's shoulder, “He must be pretty great for him to have you in his life.”

“And Laurel must be a super awful person to end things with you not just before the holidays but for a job she didn't even have yet.”

Oliver took a deep breath. The more he was told or thought about it, everyone was right. Laurel really hurt him.

“Felicity seems really nice though.”

“Yeah,” he responded.

“Pretty too,” replied with smile.

“Yeah.”

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

“Oliver, you didn't have to give me the bed. I know that couch can't be comfortable for someone with your...body,” Felicity stated as she stared at the ceiling.

There was only a couple more days and she would go back to her usual life with only one difference: two tickets to Aruba. Two tickets but no one to take and she would gladly give up those tickets if she could have one thing, one person really. If she could have Oliver as part of her usual life and as herself and not a fake fiancee, she would be willing to give up a lot.

Oliver smiled at Felicity's awkward pause before she said body. After talking to his sister, he found himself staring at Felicity every time he was in a room with her. He found it difficult to still call her Laurel since Thea knew and he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the rest of his family knew and if they would even care after meeting this remarkable woman.

“Felicity, it is all right. I didn't feel right after you slept on it last night and my mother did raise me with some manners so you sleep in the bed until this is...over,” he wondered if his sadness echoed in his tone.

“Okay. So...has Laurel contacted you at all?”

“I wouldn't know if she did. I haven't wanted to turn on my phone.”

“If she said she was sorry...and wanted...you back...”

“Honestly?”

Felicity sat up in bed and looked at him, “Yeah?”

“I don't know if I could. I won't say I don't love her and it really hurt with what she did but if she really loved me...would she have done that? Shouldn't she love me more than a possible promotion?”

“I can't imagine anyone not loving you,” Felicity mumbled so quietly he didn't hear.

“If you had asked me the day after or so, maybe but it has been a week and...you know?” he looked at her and she nodded.

“We better get to sleep. I hear your mother has something she wants to talk to us about.”

His eyes grew wide, “That can't be good.”

Felicity smiled before saying, “Goodnight, Oliver.”

“Goodnight, Felicity.”

* * *

 Felicity and Oliver woke up and got ready, finding it easier and easier to go through their morning rituals together. Oliver would shower while Felicity picked out her clothes. Then, they would switch before brushing their teeth at the same time and walking out of the bedroom as if they had been doing it for months instead of days.

They walked down the stairs to find Moira, not noticing that they were holding hands the entire time. Suddenly, they both heard a loud voice.

“Stop,” Thea shouted.

“What's wrong Speedy?” the worry evident in his voice.

“You're both under the mistletoe,” his little sister replied with an evil grin.

“Oh...uh...Laurel isn't big on,” he stammered.

“Public displays of affection make me...nervous.”

“Oh come on Laurel, you are going to have to get used to it,” Moira said, “I mean the wedding will be one of the biggest social events of the next year not to mention your engagement party I am planning.”

“Engagement party?” “Engagement party?” both Oliver and Felicity asked at the same time.

“I thought you already held an engagement party before Thanksgiving. You said it was in our honor?” Oliver questioned his mother.

“Oliver, talk later, kiss your fiancee now,” his mother demanded.

He looked at the woman next to him and she shrugged. Oliver knew it was her way of saying go ahead but he had a feeling that as soon as his lips touched hers, his world would change if it hadn't already just by knowing her.

Felicity couldn't deny she wanted to kiss Oliver. Did she want to kiss him with his mother and sister in the room? Not necessarily but she definitely wanted to kiss him and after what felt like an eternity of nerve-wracking minutes, she felt his mouth brush against hers. It was as if she was tasting mint chocolate chip ice cream for the first time in years.

She tasted like pure honey. Oliver couldn't remember the last time he felt he could spend all day just kissing. There was always something more that could be done or there was better things to do that came after kissing. But if it felt like this all the time, Oliver would rearrange his schedule to keep kissing her.

They heard Thea's wolf whistle and pulled apart. They each gazed into the others sapphire eyes as if they held the answers to everything they just felt.

“Okay, enough of that. So I was going through my list of what needs to be done for the wedding and I realized we need to throw you the perfect engagement party,” Moira continued their conversation from earlier.

“Then what was before?” her son asked.

“That was just family and close friends. This would be important people from the office, investors, family, friends, and the best of society as we know it.”

“Moira...I don't know if,” Felicity interjected.

“Oh, Laurel. I know that the courthouse and a jury are probably very different from a room full of people but it comes with being a Queen. I thought we could have it on the twenty third.”

“That's less than a month away?” Felicity stated.

“Yes, which is why I need both of you to come up with a list of names you want to invite. I have already booked the Verdant room. It's sure to be stunning this time of year...Oh and Laurel we must go dress shopping while you are here.”

“Um...um...ok?”

Oliver and Felicity stood there stunned, not sure what to do as they listened to Moira go on about detail after detail of this party. Felicity could feel the insecurity and fear start in her stomach and little did she know, Oliver was experiencing a similar situation. The idea of an engagement party was both exciting and terrifying because they weren't in a relationship but the more time they spent together, both of them but unknown to the other wanted there to be a relationship where they could plan an event like his mother described.

The sound of the doorbell jarred them from the trance.

“Oliver, would you check to see if that is the event planner?”

Oliver walked to the door and opened it but it wasn't the event planner.

“Laurel...”

"Hello, Ollie."

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Oliver felt as if an earthquake just shattered the ground he was standing on.  Standing in front of him was the woman he was engaged to last week and the woman Felicity was pretending to be.  The woman who broke his heart and came back right as he felt hope that it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him.

“What are you doing here, Laurel?”

“Can I come in?” she asked.

“Not until you tell me what you are doing here,” he replied stepping out of the door so his family wouldn’t hear, “You broke up with me and handed me the ring because I didn’t immediately want to follow you to Gotham.  For a promotion you didn’t even have yet, so what are you doing here, Laurel?” his voice much angrier than expected.

“Ollie…I don’t expect you to understand.  I felt confused and worried about work and when you responded the way you did, I figured I might as well lose you now instead of later.”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “That is ridiculous.”

“I know, I know, I know.  I spent a few days and all I could think about was how big of a fool I was and I couldn’t spend another day without seeing you.  Please, Ollie, give me another chance.  I want to marry you and live with you no matter where it is,” she pleaded.

Oliver didn’t know how to react.  Part of him, a large part, wanted to go back into the house and slam the door in her face and let everyone know that who they thought was Laurel was actually Felicity, a woman he couldn’t deny had gotten under his skin.  But another part wanted to take her back regardless of what she did.

“Please, Ollie, I love you so much,” Laurel sniffled as she spoke, “I want to meet your family. I want to make a family.”

He opened the door and let her in, not knowing how anyone would react.

* * *

“Oliver, who was it?” his mother shouted from the living room.

He walked into the space, followed by a tall, beautiful brunette with highlights that made her perfect hair seem blond.  Felicity had a feeling that she was that was Laurel and she felt inadequate looking at the gorgeous person in front of her.  She adjusted her clothes nervously, not knowing what was going to happen in a few minutes.

Oliver’s eyes met Felicity’s.  Both eyes displayed emotions that they didn’t want to name and they spoke to the other without words.  Oliver’s told her he was sorry and Felicity’s replied that she knew.

“Mom, I haven’t been exactly honest with you.”

“What are you talking about, Oliver?  Who is this?” his mother pointed.

“I’m Laurel.”

“No, this is Laurel,” she responded while looking at Felicity.

“My name is Felicity.”

“I asked Felicity to pretend to be Laurel,” Oliver added.

Thea sunk into the couch, waiting for the explosion she knew was about to occur.

“And why would you do that?” Moira’s voice rose.

He bowed his head, “It’s a long story.”

Felicity interrupted him, “Mrs. Queen, it really isn’t his fault.”

Moira held up her hand, “Excuse me, Felicity or whoever you are, I am talking to my son and now that we know you are not his fiancée, you can leave.”

“Mom!” “Mom!” Thea and Oliver said to their mother.

“I just want all of you to know that you are family and you shouldn’t let this come between you,” Felicity replied to Moira’s harsh tone and she walked away, touching Oliver’s shoulder on her way upstairs to get her things.

“Well, now that is settled can someone explain what happened?”

“Mrs. Queen, if I may explain?” Laurel asked politely and continued when Moira nodded, “Last week, I foolishly ended things with your son and I immediately regretted it.  When I was able to leave the city, I rushed over here in hopes that he would take me back.”

“Oh.  And Oliver, why was that other woman here?”

“Felicity and I met when I was working on an article before the paper shut down.  She owns a tech store and that was why she was able to fix that card scanner at the restaurant.”

“How did she know so much about you and the rest of us?”

“She is a literal genius,” he replied.

Laurel scoffed, “Obviously not, Ollie.”

“Her being a genius means nothing.  Regardless, I need to know one thing: are you going to get married?”

Oliver answered, “I don’t know,” while Laurel immediately supplied, “Yes.”

He tried to communicate silently with Laurel that they needed to talk but if she realized that or not, she walked into the living room to speak to everyone.  To try to cut the tension that was thick as potato chowder, Thea decided to tell them all something.

“I am not in love with Adrian.”

The reaction of both Laurel and Moira was complete silence as Oliver looked on with a smile.

“Excuse me?”

Thea rose from her seat and looked at her mother, “I don’t love Adrian.  He is boring and arrogant and never around even if I did love him. I am in love with someone else and you will just have to deal with that.”

“And may I ask who you are in love with?  Not that server?”

“Yes, that server and bartender at the club who works his butt off helping his family while taking online classes to get his degree.”

Moira decided she couldn’t handle anymore frustration and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Later that night, he sat next to Laurel as she stared at her phone the entire time in bed.  They spent most of the afternoon in awkward conversation.  Oliver found out that Laurel didn’t receive the promotion because it was given to a nephew of a founding partner.  He questioned her if her decision to come back to him was because she found out she wouldn’t be moving.

“Oliver, of course not,” she replied and kissed him on the lips quickly, "Now I have to respond to these emails before next week."

He found himself thinking that this was a mistake.

“What is a mistake?” Laurel asked and Oliver realized that like Felicity he said that out loud.

“Um…Laurel, I have to go talk to mom.”

“Okay,” and she continued to tap at her phone.

* * *

Oliver found his mother in the living room, looking at the different ornaments her children had made over the years.  While his family was one of the richest and most successful on this side of the country, Moira loved the handmade gifts from Thea and Oliver more than any of the expensive ornaments she could find in a store.  She turned when she heard footsteps.

“Oliver?”

“Mom, can we talk?”

“Of course, dear.  Would you like a hot chocolate?”

He shook his head.

“You know, I watched you and Laurel all afternoon after your sister left to see Ross or Randy whatever his name is.”

“It’s Roy, mom.  You might have to accept that.”

“I suppose I just want what’s best for my children.  But after watching all of you with the people that are what I thought were best, you both seemed miserable.  You and Laurel barely spoke and Adrian was never around and when he was, well, your sister wasn’t exactly wrong about him being arrogant.”

Oliver let out a soft laugh and nodded in agreement.

“You weren’t like that with Felicity.  You seemed happy and you looked at her as if she was the sun.”

“Is it weird that I think I fell in love with someone I barely know after my fiancée dumped me?”

“No stranger than your father, a brilliant businessman, being caught up in some Ponzi scheme.”

“Wait, what?”

“Don’t worry.  I’ve already spoke to people and we have it figured out.  But it is why he retired early.”

“Oh,” Oliver replied, realizing his family was full of surprises.

“What does your heart tell you, Oliver?”

“It tells me that I was a fool to let her leave,” he responded.

“Then, go tell her that.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it the final chapter! Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Happy Holidays everyone!

 

Laurel walked down into the kitchen looking for Oliver but found Thea.

“Hello Thea, have you seen Oliver?  He said he was coming to talk to your mom but it’s been about an hour.”

“He left about thirty minutes ago.”

“Wait…what…why?” the confusion written all over her face.

“See when you stupidly broke up with my brother as you ignorantly believed you would have that promotion which would move you across the states, he met one of the sweetest, most intelligent women I have ever met that I can’t imagine would ever break someone’s heart because of a possible job.”

“I really don’t think that is any of your business. That was between Ollie and me and we moved passed that.”

“First, don’t call him Ollie.  It is irritating coming out of your mouth.  Secondly, you may have moved passed that but he didn’t.”

“Okay…regardless, he was the one who found some whatever to pretend to be me,” Laurel pointed at herself, “If I can handle that, he and the rest of you should be able to handle a little bit of nervousness.”

Thea chuckled, “But yours wasn’t nerves.  You were a selfish bitch who thought she was more important than her fiancé.  You always cancelled when you were supposed to meet us for family get togethers.  You didn’t start planning your wedding…”

“You haven’t either.”

“My life is none of your business.  I am talking about your lack of consideration towards the man you were supposed to love for the rest of your life.  Obviously, you love your career and yourself more than one of the best people to have in your life.”

“I don’t have to listen to this.  Just tell me where he went.”

“He went to QC to visit the tech department and have them track down her address because in the short amount of time they knew each other, she showed more feelings for Ollie and our family than you did in the entire time you were in a relationship.  Now, I suggest you get your things and get out.  And don’t bother talking to my mother because she was the one who convinced him to go to her after watching you for a few hours.”

Laurel stormed off.

* * *

 Felicity walked into her apartment wondering how her life got so complicated.  Before meeting Oliver Queen, she was happy with her little tech shop and hanging out with friends when they weren’t busy with their families.  Sure, she was single and it had been at least six months since she had a date.  But she wasn’t walking into her apartment wishing Oliver had never come into her life because now there was an ache in her chest she couldn’t explain.

“How did I fall in love in a week?” she asked herself out loud.

Suddenly, she heard a knock.  Felicity looked at the monitor she installed for security and was shocked when she saw Oliver standing there. 

Quickly opening the door, “Oliver?”

“Felicity,” his teeth chattered.

“Get in here it is freezing,” she moved so he could move in.

He shook the little bit of snow that rested on his coat and looked around the small apartment.  It was filled with bright pillows and blankets that fit her personality.  The pictures on shelves and computer parts scattered in the room distract him until he hears her clear her throat.

“What are you doing here, Oliver?” she wrapped her arms around herself, “How did you find me?”

“I…uh…I went to QC to have someone look you up.”

She grinned, “Smart…a little stalkery but smart.  But you didn’t answer my first question.”

Oliver rubbed his hands together trying to shake off his nerves, “I am here because I made a mistake letting you walk away.”

“Laurel came back.  We both knew that this wasn’t a real relationship,” she walked past him to sit down.

“That’s where you’re wrong.  In the short time I’ve known you; I had more of a relationship with you than I ever did with Laurel who I was with for two years.  I saw you charm my family just by being yourself.  I know you were pretending to be a lawyer but the woman that shined through was all you.  Laurel doesn’t shine beyond her law firm.”

“What are you saying Oliver?” she felt her heart beat faster.

“I am saying that I want a relationship with Felicity Meghan Smoak, owner of Smoak Tech Solutions, MIT class of ’09, daughter of Donna Jane Smoak and Noah Kuttler, who grew up in Vegas because I fell in love with her,” he responded.

She smiled with a small tear sliding down her cheek, “I would like that Oliver Jonas Queen, writer, SCU class of 2010, son of Moira Dearden and Robert Jonas Queen, born in Star City because I love you too.”

* * *

1 Year Later

Felicity watched herself in the mirror while her mother fussed with her hair.

“You look beautiful baby girl,” Donna said through wet eyes.

“Thank you, mom.”

It was December 21st and her wedding day.  Here she was standing in a white satin and lace strapless gown about to walk down the aisle to a man who stole her heart last year, a man who at the time she had only known for two weeks.  She couldn’t stop the smile spreading on her face.

“Thank god, I wore waterproof mascara today.  I can’t stop crying,” her mother stated behind her and made her laugh.

It was at that moment, Thea knocked on the door with Skittles on a leash.

“It’s time,” she looked at Felicity, “Let’s make you officially my sister.”

All the women walked to the doors and waited until it was their turn to walk.  Felicity’s friends Caitlin and Iris were first followed by Thea walking their dog.  Then, the music started and Felicity and Donna started the walk to her future husband.

She teared up when she saw him under the chuppah and Oliver’s breath caught when he saw her. 

Tommy, his best man whispered in his ear, “You did good, man,” and he nodded in response.

After what felt like an eternity, the rabbi announced them husband and wife followed by the breaking of the glass.  After they walked together to leave the room and entered the car to go to the reception, Oliver looked at his wife.

“What are thinking?” she asked as she touched the crinkle in his forehead.

“Just thinking that if it wasn’t for Laurel, I probably wouldn’t be married to the most remarkable woman I have ever met and never did I imagine that I would be happy that someone broke up with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate all comments and love to see what you thought.


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